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Business aviation is often used to support missions that help people and communities in crisis. Business airplanes transport donated organs and blood; they fly patients and trauma victims to medical facilities for treatment; they deliver humanitarian assistance to areas struck by natural disasters; and they help connect combat veterans with their families. To see examples showing how companies are using business aviation to compete and succeed in a very demanding marketplace, and learn more about the many ways business aviation benefits the nation's economy and companies of all sizes, all across the U.S., visit: www.NoPlaneNoGain.org.

As No Plane No Gain supporters know, one of the campaign’s central themes is the value of business aviation in helping link communities and drive economic development. That message is being reinforced on the Facebook page for Cirrus Aircraft, which quotes a line NBAA’s Ed Bolen has often used to illustrate the ability of business aviation to provide a transportation lifeline to towns and communities. “On a mile of highway, you can drive a mile. On a mile of railway, you can travel a mile. With a mile of runway, you have the whole world.” View the new Cirrus Facebook cover photo.

When neighbors of Massachusetts’ Hanscom Field (BED) wrote a commentary piece in the Concord Journal attacking business aviation use of the airport, NBAA’s Ed Bolen was quick to respond responded with an opinion piece published in the March 8 edition of the paper. “Contrary to the personal opinions of the commentary authors, the majority of people who fly on business aircraft at Hanscom Field... are not upper-level executives,” Bolen wrote. “They are mid-level employees, including salespeople, engineers and technicians.” Bolen also noted the vast majority of airplanes at BED “are single-engine airplanes rather than so-called ‘luxury jets,’” and cited a state government study showing civilian flights at the airport contributed more than $249 million to the region’s economy. Read Bolen’s full commentary, and view a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by the No Plane No Gain program, which supports the comments Bolen made in his oped.

The need to raise awareness about the importance of the aviation industry was top of mind for NBAA’s Ed Bolen, when he spoke recently to Washington’s top aviation policymakers at the 37th annual Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Forecast Conference. “Business aviation has been both a leading indicator and a reflection of the global economy and how it has changed in recent years,” Bolen said in opening remarks on the first day of the event in Washington, DC. “We are living and participating in a global marketplace,” Bolen said. “As businesses have clearly moved to more international locations, we have seen changes in the types of aircraft, going to the large-cabin, ultra-long-range aircraft needed to reach important emerging markets in places like São Paulo, Beijing and Moscow.” Read more about Bolen’s remarks at the FAA Forecast Conference.